Drs. Diehl, Yoder and Averbeck were present for the introduction. The Council welcomed the new members.

B. Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2013-2014

Dr. Locke explained the procedures and nominations were taken from the floor. Drs. Polley and Mossman were nominated for the position of Chair. A secret ballot vote resulted in Dr. Mossman being elected as Chair and Dr. Polley as Vice Chair by acclamation.

C. Graduate Council Meeting Dates for 2013-2014

Ms. Schulz announced the meeting dates had been set and would be available on the Graduate School’s website within the week. The meetings will once again be held in Horrabin Hall 60 with a CODEC connection to the Quad Cities 60th Street Campus, Room 114.

D. Academic Integrity Incident Reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, March 2013 (0)

Ms. Schulz reported that there were no academic integrity incident reports file during March.

II. GRADUATE CURRICULUM

A. Biological Sciences

1. Request for a 400-G Level Course

a. ZOOL 485G/RPTA 485G, Resource Management for Fly Fisheries, 3 s.h.

Dr. Lydeard was present from the Biology Department. Dr. Locke questioned the logistics of the proposed schedule and the grading aspect of the course. Dr. Parsons responded that there are two weeks after finals that grades can still be submitted.

Dr. Maroney was present to answer questions. Dr. Kilmer asked what necessitated the shift in requirements. Dr. Maroney responded that the national standards have changed leading to the change in program requirements. Dr. Locke pointed out a minor change to the request stating that there needed to be a line with the total program hours for Track I of 37 s.h.

Dr. Kaul was present to respond to questions from the Council for all requests.

1. Request for a New Graduate (500 or 600-Level) Course

a. DS 500, Introduction to Business Analytics, 1 s.h.

Dr. McQuillan stated that Computer Science is concerned about possible overlap between this course and IS 405. Dr. Kaul responded that the course is not a “G” course and requires 6 s.h. of prerequisites which could impede graduate students from pursuing their degrees. He then stated that if Computer Science added a “G” to the course, Economics would incorporate it into their program. Dr. McQuillan noted that the concern is primarily about the content of the two courses overlapping. Dr. Kaul clarified that the new course would just be an introduction of modeling at 1 s.h. as opposed to the current 3 s.h. undergraduate course. Dr. Parsons pointed out that the Provost’s Office received the feasibility study for the new Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Business Analytics recently and anything approved at today’s meeting by the Council is pending recommendations from other parties that have not been received yet.

Dr. Kaul restated that if Computer Science creates a “G” course then their department will incorporate it into the program. Dr. Locke asked if that meant that DS 500 would be dropped. Dr. Kaul replied no. Dr. Filipink asked for clarification regarding the current courses offered and the course being requested. Dr. Parsons stated that there is not a course covering this information at the graduate level but there is one at the undergraduate level. Discussion was held regarding the possible overlap of material. Professor Myers raised concern over the students that need the course now and stated that the topic could be revisited if Computer Science offers a similar course in the future.

A motion was made by Dr. Filipink to postpone the request pending further discussion between Computer Science and Economics. Dr. McQuillan seconded the motion. Further discussion was held. Dr. DeVolder questioned what issues were still left to resolve between the departments. None were brought forth. Dr. DeVolder stated that as Chair of the Computer Science Department, he is willing to support the program on acceptance of Dr. Kaul’s statement that the 400-G course will be added as a directed elective to the certificate program should Computer Science pursue the designation. Drs. Filipink and McQuillan withdrew the motion to postpone.

Drs. Merrett and Gruidl represented the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and answered questions for all requests together. Dr. Kilmer questioned the lack of signatures on the request and Dr. Locke asked if the program would need to be housed in a college. Dr. Merrett stated that the Provost would serve as the “Dean” for the program and none of the signature lines appeared to be appropriate because of the unique situation. Dr. Merrett presented the program proposal and gave background on the institute stating that there is tenured faculty employed in the institute. Dr. Gruidl added that the idea of the program is to align the goals of the institute with the goals of WIU. The target population is people already out in the market looking to add more skills.

Dr. Locke asked for clarification on the delineation of the courses within their own area. Dr. Gruidl responded that when developing the curriculum, they tried to look at the core competencies and build the courses within their own area. They also tried to incorporate courses that already exist at the University that their faculty members already teach. Discussion was held regarding the courses. Professor Myers stated that it was a phenomenal proposal but questioned the budget requirements. Dr. Merrett explained the requests and stated that they will be looking at creative alternatives to meeting the budget needs including realigning current job assignments for the short- to medium-term. Dr. Lock noted that the Council is charged with the curriculum portion of the request and not the financial aspect. Dr. McQuillan shared information from the Marketing and Management Department regarding the potential overlap in courses that are currently being offered. Dr. Gruidl stated that he has met with the MBA Director but not the Marketing and Management Department Chair. He does not see any potential overlap because the focus of the proposed courses is not small business development but community development.

Dr. Mossman questioned the support from other departments and the lack of documentation confirming support. Dr. Merrett stated that discussions have been held with other departments but they do not have documentation at this time. Dr. Filipink noted that the Council needs to see the letters of support and asked if there was support from the Provost since there were no signatures on the requests. Dr. Parsons stated that the Provost has approved the feasibility study or it would not have made it to the Council. Dr. Guidl clarified that the Council is suggesting two additional items: letters of support from department chairpersons and more tangible language in the course requests. Dr. Parsons also noted that the course UNIV 580 is in the deep freeze and can be activated with a prefix change.

Drs. H. Hemphill and L. Hemphill were present to respond to questions. Dr. Locke questioned if IDT 512 was an approved course. Dr. H. Hemphill responded that it is an approved course currently in deep freeze status. The course will be activated and amended to be an online course. Dr. Locke clarified that this program is only for the General Emphasis area. Dr. L. Hemphill stated that this is correct.

Dr. Wigglesworth was present. Dr. Locke questioned why the request is only for the non-thesis option. Dr. Wigglesworth responded that by offering the non-thesis option, the department can guarantee completion of the Master’s degree in one calendar year after the Bachelor’s degree. A student could request to do a thesis but there would be no guarantee of a completion date.

Dr. Bideshi was present to respond to questions. Dr. Locke asked why the department did not want to require SOC 535. Dr. Bideshi responded that the course was more specialized and all students did not need to take it when they could all take SOC 531 that is more of an introductory course.